New Delhi: State-owned Canara Bank said it aims cash recovery of Rs 6,500 crore this fiscal which may result in lowering of non-performing assets (NPA).
"The bank did cash recovery of Rs 5,000 crore for the year ended March 2014, this year (2014-15) we expect this to go up to Rs 6,500 crore," Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director R K Dubey said at an event organised by Association of Business Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The gross NPA of the bank stood at 2.67 per cent while net NPA was 2.03 per cent of the total advances at the end of June. In absolute term, the gross NPA of the bank was Rs 8,159 crore at the of first quarter of the current fiscal. Talking about farm loan waivers, he said, this leads to rise in NPA of the banks as farmers of other states in anticipation of a waiver delay the loan payment. In June, the bank's NPA increased by Rs 400 crore due to farm debt waiver announced by states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Delay in repayment is now being faced in those states where assembly elections are due, he said, adding rise in defaults are being witnessed in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana. During the recent assembly and general elections in Andhra Pradesh and the newly created Telangana, state leaders Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandrashekhar Rao had promised farm loan waivers. While the quantum of affected farm loan in Andhra Pradesh is around Rs 87,000 crore, it is over Rs 40,000 crore in the new state. On providing more autonomy to banks, Dubey said he favoured implementation of P J Nayak Committee recommendations.
